Prince of Persia: The Forgotten Sands £14.95 @ Zavvi [PS3 Games]

Some people, myself included, were left a little cold by the Prince of Persia reboot 2008 which jettisoned most of the epic puzzle-platforming from the excellent Sands of Time trilogy in favour of a new, open world approach. The Forgotten Sands, a suffixed extension to make the point that this is not just a movie tie-in, is a spiritual successor of sorts to that other sandy epic and a near apology to its fans that marks a return to the gigantic puzzle rooms and fiendishly complex traps that require no small amount of skill, timing and severe dexterity.

If you were disappointed by the Prince's last outing, then this might be the game for you and, handily, Zavvi have dropped the price on the PS3 version as part of their Mega Monday sale down to £14.95, a good £3 cheaper than anyone else at this point in time.

This is not a great game, it pushes no boundaries, offers little that we haven't seen before. It feels like a polished expansion pack for Sands of Time, restoring the Prince to linear adventuring and simply putting an innumerable wealth of pits and spikes and saws and precipices in his way...not to mention the horde of bloodthirsty desert soldiers that rise up from the sands after all hell breaks loose.

But it's the flaws that actually make this game so much fun to play. Wrap your head around the control system and the barrage of extra powers that the game throws in your direction and it reveals itself to be a wonderful homage of sorts. I never found myself bored by this game, although the combat can begin to grate a little.

Yes, Ubisoft are playing it pretty damn safe with this one. Should it stop you from buying it? Hell no, this is arguably what they do best.